


If We Live By The Sword, How Shall We Die? (Hopefully Not At All)

by Just_Another_Zombie



Series: By The Sword 'Verse [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, But Maybe Not In This Story, Endgame Sterek, Follows Most Of SAO Canon, Gen, More Characters To Come Eventually, Spoilers For SAO Season 1, Stiles and Scott didn't grow up together, Sword Art Online Fusion, Virtual Reality, With A Few Adjustments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-06-06 16:40:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6761941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_Another_Zombie/pseuds/Just_Another_Zombie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sword Art Online was unlike any game Stiles had ever played. The VRMMORPG had been officially released to the public the day before and had already outsold every other game that had been released that year. It was like an extremely vivid dream, where everything looked and felt real. If it weren’t for the absence of pain, Stiles may be able to forget he was playing a game.<br/>--<br/>Stiles Stilinski had waited months for the newest creation of HaleHound Games™, a new Virtual Reality game called Sword Art Online, to be released. However, when that day finally comes, Stiles and the other 25,000 people playing SAO are trapped within the game by a mysterious enemy, who informs the players that death in the game causes death in reality. </p>
<p>Will Stiles and the new friends he makes be able to escape this death game alive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1- A Whole New (Virtual) World

_The air is still, every leaf and blade of grass frozen as if held in suspense, awaiting the next move of the intense battle before them. A lone fighter stands, solid and valiant against one of the most formidable creatures in the entire land, a wolf of incredible size and strength, with long fangs that glisten in the sunlight. Man and beast face each other in deadly focus, each weighing the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent, knowing that one wrong move, one mistake, and they will meet a quick and violent death at the hands of the other._

_The warrior’s face shows no distress, and he holds no fear in his heart for he knows that only he has the strength to best the foul beast. His expression holds as strong as his arm, the weight of the longsword he clutches comfortable in the way only an extension of his being could be. The blade is poised to strike, awaiting its master’s instruction to attack. Silence hangs heavily over the pair, and the warrior takes this moment to shift his stance, eyes trained with deadly focus on the wolf. His muscles coil like steel springs and his hand tightens on the grip of his weapon as he prepares to-_

“You going to fight the damn wolf, or just continue with your inner monologue?”

Stiles jumps at the sudden voice, body pitching forward in surprise as his concentration was broken. Taking advantage of his distraction, the field wolf darted towards Stiles, jaws open in a vicious snarl. However, Stiles had been playing games like this for far too long to be taken down by a creature so low level, so he drew himself up from the slumped position he had fallen into in an attempt to keep from tripping over completely, and waited. When the advancing wolf was within range, the swordsman stepped to the side, sword cutting through the air to swipe along the animal’s side as it sprinted past.

The wolf shuddered to a stop before exploding in a burst, its body dissolving into hundreds of shards of green-blue light, before dissipating into the air. Stiles allowed himself a quick fist-pump of victory, before he spun on his heel to face his companion, fixing his newly made friend with a glare. Scott just grinned in reply, until Stiles rolled his eyes, sheathing his sword.

“Dude. You almost got me killed,” he grumbled, walking over to the other boy and punching him on the shoulder. “And what makes you think I was monologuing?”

“You just had that kind of look on your face,” Scott explains. “Like you were a hundred miles away. You’d be surprised how many players do it actually. Besides, the wolves on this floor have to hit you a few times before they completely knock out your HP.”

The pair continued their journey through the field they stood in, walking side by side down the virtual dirt pathway, keeping one eye open for danger as they began talking amongst themselves again.

“So do you get what I mean about the sword skills?” Scott asks a while later, once the duo had faced a few more creatures and Stiles has had some more time to adjust himself to the new environment.

“Yeah, I think so.” Stiles drew his sword, swinging it lightly as he came to a standstill, Scott stopping a few feet ahead. Stiles poised his sword, relaxing his body until he felt it shift into the perfect position as if by instinct. “You just have to relax and let the game programming take over.” He felt the power activating, sending a vibration through his body as the tip of his longsword began to glow at the activation of the sword skill. Stiles lunged, watching as his blade shot forward so fast the edges blurred, before stopping at the end of its reach. Once the sword skill dispersed Stiles gave Scott a grin, sweeping into an overdramatic bow as the other boy let loose an exaggerated round of applause. 

“You got it man! You’re a natural,” Scott cheered, clapping Stiles on the back. Stiles laughed.

“All thanks to you dude. I really appreciate you helping me out.”

“Nah, it’s no problem,” Scott brushed the thanks off with a wave of his hand. “What’s the point of being a beta-tester if you don’t give other players some tips?”

Stiles looked around, taking in the bright blue sky, and the deep green grass of the open field. It was hard to believe that none of it was real.

Sword Art Online was unlike any game Stiles had ever played. The VRMMORPG had been officially released to the public the day before and had already outsold every other game that had been released that year. The reviews made by the lucky 500 people chosen to beta-test had been glowing, praising everything about the game from the upgraded NerveGear, to the design of the game floors and creatures. Even though there had been a few games before that had incorporated some form of NerveGear, there had always been a clear distinction between the game world and real life. But not SAO. Instead it was more like an extremely vivid dream, where everything looked and felt real. If it weren’t for the absence of pain, Stiles may be able to forget he was playing a game.

“You’re so lucky to have been a beta-tester,” Stiles mumbled to Scott, habitually running a hand across his head and marveling at the feeling of his avatar’s buzzed hair. Even though pain wasn’t simulated by the NerveGear neuro-sensors, other sensations like hot and cold temperature and the general sense of touch were still active. It was a genius use of technology that Stiles was in awe of, not to mention extremely thankful for. It was thanks to games like SAO that Stiles could be himself without all the judgment that usually came with it. Immersed in the virtual world, he was just another guy learning to wield a sword. He wasn’t known as the freak with ADHD and panic attacks caused by the death of his mother. He wasn’t the Sheriff’s spastic troublemaker of a son, or the clumsy geek at school. He was just…Stiles. Regular guy and up and coming sword-swinging badass. It was going to be great.


	2. Chapter Two- A Glitch In The System?

Stiles and Scott ended up spending hours in each other’s company, getting introduced, or in Scott’s case, reintroduced to the finer workings of monster fighting, as well as exploring the main town on the first floor, known as the Town of Beginnings. Scott had been eager to share his beta-testing experiences with Stiles, showing him the best places to gain EXP points, which stores had the most reasonable prices and even hints on how to beat the first few floor bosses. Before either of them new it, the virtual sky was growing dark.

“I’m telling you man, I was so pissed. I lost like, a whole day of gameplay stuck in that damn room. It was a relief when they finally just killed me off and-,” Scott is interrupted from his anecdote by a sharp beeping noise as a reminder message appears in front of Stiles’s face. He swipes an arm through the message, disabling it quickly.

“Damn man,” Stiles turns to Scott, mouth twisted in a regretful frown. “I gotta log off.  My dad’s gonna be home from work soon, and I still have to get dinner ready.

Scott chuckles at Stiles’s expression.

“That’s too bad bro. My mom has the night-shift at the hospital, so I’m gonna stay on a little longer. But this has been fun. You should look me up next time your online, we’ll hang out again. Hey,” Scott looks at Stiles in excitement, “Maybe if I start up a guild, you could join?”

“Sounds great bro. I don’t know about joining a guild straight away, I want to see how far I can get soloing, but we’ll definitely hang out.” Stiles sends Scott a quick salute in goodbye as Scott begins his trek back to the Town of Beginnings, waving over his shoulder. However, Stiles was quick to call him back after discovering that a very crucial part of his menu was missing.

“Yo Scott! Total noob question here, but how do you log out?”

“Seriously Stiles? I thought you said you’ve used NerveGear before.”

“I have!” Stiles defended himself as he continued searching through his player menu, opening each sub-menu and scrolling down each drop-down list. “Each game had a different log out sequence. I thought I knew what SAO’s was, but…”

>>Communication<<  
>>Inventory<<  
>>Settings<<  
            >>Options<<  
                >>Help<<  
              >>          <<

_Nothing_

“I can’t find it.”

By the time Stiles has gone through his entire menu Scott has reached his side again, and Stiles can barely keep himself from rolling his eyes at the exaggeratedly pitying expression on the other boy’s face.

“Gee Stiles,” Scott drawls, “I’m going to have to take back what I said about you being a natural at this game.”

At this point, Stiles can’t help himself. He rolls his eyes so hard it’s a wonder his optic nerves don’t detach.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Can you help me get out of here before I get banned by my dad?”

Scott laughs, swiping his arm to open his own menu. “Calm down man, you just gotta go into settings. The log out button is right…” Scott’s eyebrows draw together in a confused frown, “here?”

“Oh wow, thanks for that helpful direction, player’s guide.”

“No man, you don’t get it.” Stiles watches Scott’s eyes dart up and down as the other boy begins his own search through the menu. “It’s meant to be in ‘Settings’, but the ‘Log Out’ button is blank.”

Stiles feels a hint of fear begin to settle in his stomach. He scrolled through his menu a last time, hoping that there had just been a minor mistake, and that the two had just missed the button the first time around, but there was no such luck.

“Dude. Scott. What does that mean?” Stiles questions, closing his player menu with a gesture and turning to face Scott, taking in his friend’s worried expression. “If the ‘Log out’ button is missing, how are we meant to-? Are we trapped here?” Stiles can feel himself on the edge of panic, his chest tightening at the thought of being stuck in the virtual world. Oh God, if Stiles was stuck, what was his dad going to do? Without Stiles there-

 

“Yo, Stiles. Calm down man, it’s going to be fine. Stiles? Hey, you with me buddy?”

Stiles snapped back to attention, registering the fact that Scot had moved to stand directly in front of him, hands pressing down on Stiles’s shoulders in an effort to ground the panicking boy. Taking a deep breath, Stiles tried to send a reassuring grin at Scott, brushing off his friend’s worry with a pat on the back.

“Yeah Scotty-boy, I’m fine. Sorry, just….zoned out a bit.”

Scott gave Stiles a look of understanding, dropping his hands and taking a step back.

“So,” Stiles exclaims, in an attempt to lighten the mood, “what do we do now? Until the problem is fixed?”

Scott just shrugged, taking a step back and looking out across the open field, back in the direction of the Town of Beginnings.

“It’s gotta be a glitch right?” He asked rhetorically. “So I guess we just have to wait until the Alpha system repairs the game. That, or our parents log us out from the outside.”

The two boys stand in silent for a few moments, both of them trying not to let themselves fall too deeply into the panic they can feel rising within themselves.

“Well, that shouldn’t take too long, right?” Stiles rationalizes. “A glitch this big, the system would be focusing all its’ effort into repairing it, or the whole game would be destroyed by lawsuits.”

Scott nods enthusiastically, taking the reassurance gratefully. “Yeah, definitely. You want to head back into town until then?”

Stiles shakes his head.

“No, you go ahead. I’m going to enjoy as much time as I can exploring. I don’t imagine my dad will be too big on me playing SAO again after this happens. He’ll panic that I’ll get stuck in a game forever” He laughs, ignoring the hysterical note that tinges the sound and the fact that he was worried about the same thing.

“Are you sure man?” Scott asked, face once again marred by a worried frown.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine. You get back to ‘Beginnings. And hey, if you hear anything more about the glitch, send me a message, yeah?” Stiles swiped his right arm through the air, once again opening his menu. He quickly scrolled down to the ‘Communication’ icon, selecting the ‘Befriend’ option and sending a request to Scott. Scott smiles back at Stiles as the request message appears in the air in front of him, and Scott’s hand presses down over the green tick to accept the request.

“I will” Scott agrees, making his way down the worn path towards the town. “I’ll see you around Stiles.”

“See you around buddy,” Stiles waves back, walking further into the open field. If this is going to be his last time playing SAO for a while, he was determined to make the most of it.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I have no idea why this idea popped into my head, but it did, so here is my attempt at completing it. If you notice anything that I haven't tagged that I should, please let me know. Likewise with any spelling mistakes. This story will only be short, as I plan to complete this as a series. This particular fic will only be the opening, as in the first couple of SAO episodes. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


End file.
